Preliminary studies of Eutorna phaulocosma (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) in New Zealand

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Abstract
Brief notes to aid identification of Eutorna phaulocosma Meyrick, (the blackberry budmoth) are given. Its biology was studied in the laboratory and in commercial boysenberry gardens in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Adults mated in the laboratory, females laid up to 260 eggs each, and larvae developed through five or six instars to adults in 34–38 days at 21°C when reared on fresh boysenberry leaves. In unsprayed boysenberry gardens, larvae destroyed flower buds and infested young fruit. Insecticide sprays applied against leafroller (Tortricidae) were also very effective against E. phaulocosma. E. phaulocosma developed through three generations per year. Eggs were parasited by Trichogrammatoidea sp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) and pupae by Xanthopimpla rhopalocerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). No larval parasitoids were found, but larvae were killed by a nuclear polyhedrosis virus. It is concluded that E. phaulocosma is a potentially minor pest in boysenberry gardens and is currently effectively controlled by the leafroller control programme.

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